Some businesses, particularly banks, are regularly faced with a large amount of coin currency which must be organized, counted, and recorded. To hand count and record large amounts of coins of mixed denominations requires diligent care and effort, and demands significant manpower and time that might otherwise be available for more profitable and less tedious activity. To make counting of coins less laborious, machines have been developed which automatically sort, by denomination, a mixed group of coins, and discharge the denominated coins into receptacles specific to the various denominations. For example, coin processing machines for processing large quantities of coins from either the public at large or private institutions, such as banks and casinos, have the ability to receive bulk coins from a user of the machine, count and sort the coins, and store the received coins in one or more coin receptacles, such as coin bins or coin bags.
A well-known device for processing coins is the disk-type coin sorter. In one exemplary configuration, the coin sorter, which is designed to process a batch of mixed coins by denomination, includes a rotatable disc that is driven by an electric motor. The lower surface of a stationary, annular sorting head is parallel to and spaced slightly from the upper surface of the rotatable disc. The mixed batch of coins is progressively deposited on the top surface of the rotatable disc. As the disc is rotated, the coins deposited on the top surface thereof tend to slide outwardly due to centrifugal force. As the coins move outwardly, those coins which are lying flat on the disk enter the gap between the disk and the guide plate. The lower surface of the sorting head is formed with an array of exit channels which guide coins of different denominations to different exit locations around the periphery of the disc. The exiting coins, having been sorted by denomination for separate storage, are counted by sensors packed along the exit channel. A representative disk-type coin sorting mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,627, to James M. Rasmussen, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIGS. 1a-1b show a coin processing device 10 having a pivoting coin input tray 12 configured to hold coins prior to inputting the coins into the coin processing device 10. The coin tray 12 pivots upwardly to cause coins deposited therein to move, under the force of gravity through a hopper, funnel, or chute, into a sorting mechanism (not shown) disposed within a cabinet. The sorting mechanism discharges sorted coins to a plurality of coin bags (see FIG. 1b) suspended within the cabinet 14, the bottoms of the bags may rest upon a platform 22, or may hang from bag holders 16 attached to a support member of a moveable bag receptacle station 18, which if configured (e.g., via casters 21, etc.) to travel into and out of the housing 14 to facilitate access to coin receptacle sleeves via door 20 by authorized personnel.
FIG. 2 shows an example wherein moveable receptacles 38 are disposed on glide units 31-35 that slide into and out of the of the housing 30 of the coin processing device. The moveable receptacles 38 comprise coin bag partitions that prevent coins bags disposed in the moveable receptacles from interfering with adjacent coin bags as the coin bags become filled.
FIG. 3 shows an example wherein a coin processing device includes a coin bin 44 disposed within the housing 40 and behind door 46, which is shown in an open position. In this configuration, all of the processed coins are commingled in the coin bin 44. The coin bin 44 is disposed on wheels and includes a handle 42 pivotally attached thereto for pulling the coin bin from within the housing.
U.S. Published Patent Application Serial No. US 2004/0256197, assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,188,720 B2, 6,996,263 B2, 6,896,118 B2, 6,892,871 B2, 6,810,137 B2, 6,755,730 B2, 6,748,101 B1, 6,731,786 B2, 6,724,926 B2, 6,678,401 B2, 6,637,576 B1, 6,609,604, 6,603,872 B2, 6,579,165 B2, 6,318,537 B1, 6,171,182 B1, 6,068,194, 6,042,470, 6,039,645, 6,021,883, 5,997,395, 5,982,918, 5,943,655, 5,905,810, 5,865,673, 5,743,373, 5,630,494, 5,564,974, 5,542,880, and 4,543,969, each of which is assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure, and also each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its respective entirety.